5USA TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On 5USA Tonight

Published: 14 September 2026

5USA is Channel 5’s home for imported American crime and legal drama, the channel that keeps NCIS and the Law & Order franchise on British screens night after night. It launched as Five US in October 2006, took the 5USA name in 2011, and has sat inside the Paramount-owned Channel 5 family since 2014. Tonight, Tuesday 15 September 2026, is a straightforward crime-drama night: three NCIS episodes run back to back from 6pm to 9pm, a new episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit then takes the 9pm slot, and three more Special Victims Unit episodes close out the night from 10pm to 11:55pm.

5USA Schedule: Tuesday 15 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5USA schedule for Tuesday 15 September 2026, on Freeview 21.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on 5USA today

Tuesday’s overnight run opens with a single Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode just before 1am, then Blue Bloods at 1:55am and NCIS: Los Angeles at 2:50am carry the schedule through to about 3:45am, followed by a short Entertainment News on 5 bulletin and two hours of Teleshopping. Ideal World Shopping fills the whole breakfast run from 6am to 9am, then a brief news update leads into three NCIS episodes running through mid-morning. From midday, Law & Order takes over entirely, running six consecutive episodes from 12pm through to 6pm, when NCIS returns to open the evening.

5USA tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the 5USA primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 15 September 2026.

NCIS — 5USA, 6pm-8pm

Three episodes run wall to wall to open the evening, closing out series 4 (episodes 24) before series 5 picks up for the 7pm and 8pm hours (episodes 1 and 2). It’s the channel doing what it always does: burn through a season a night rather than stretch it out.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — 5USA, 9pm

A genuine new instalment lands in the 9pm slot (series 26, episode 10), confirmed against a live schedule source — a teenager’s disappearance is the case this time. Worth noting on a channel where “New” usually just means new-to-5USA rather than new-to-the-world.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — 5USA, 10pm-11:55pm

Three older Special Victims Unit episodes close out the night back to back (series 22, episodes 5 and 6, then series 21, episode 13), the franchise’s rotating-cast format making it easy to drop into any of them without having watched the one before.

What kind of shows are on 5USA

NCIS and the naval procedural strand

NCIS is the spine of the schedule. Donald P. Bellisario’s naval investigative drama spun off from JAG in 2003 and has since piled up more than twenty seasons of case-of-the-week plotting, which 5USA works through steadily, usually a season or two behind the current US broadcast.

Law & Order and the Chicago-style franchise format

Dick Wolf’s Law & Order universe, headlined here by Special Victims Unit, is the other pillar. The channel likes to string two or three episodes together in one block, which works because the franchise was built on a rotating cast of detectives and prosecutors rather than a single running story. You can drop in anywhere.

Overnight legal drama and the Columbo archive

Tonight’s overnight hours go to a single Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode, then Blue Bloods and NCIS: Los Angeles carry through to about 3:45am. When the Columbo archive turns up, it tends to fill several daytime or early-evening hours back to back rather than a lone late slot, drawn from across Peter Falk’s original run rather than any one series, though it doesn’t feature in every day’s schedule. The exact overnight mix rotates week to week between NCIS spin-offs, Law & Order eras and older US legal drama.

TV movies, classic mystery and reruns

The gaps go to Jesse Stone TV films, Murder She Wrote reruns and reality strands like Cops. Nothing on 5USA is live.

How to watch 5USA

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find 5USA across the main UK television platforms:

Virgin Media and regional Sky channel numbers can shift slightly depending on your box and area, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if these don’t match.

Streaming online

5USA streams live and free at channel5.com and via the 5 app (formerly My5) on smart TVs, iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV. You’ll need a free 5 account, which costs nothing to set up. Selected NCIS, Blue Bloods and Law & Order episodes also turn up on demand, though licensing means not everything broadcast makes it there and availability windows vary by title.

5USA +1 and sister channels

5USA +1 runs the same schedule an hour behind on Freeview and Freesat channel 130. If a show has already started on the main channel, it’s just beginning on 5USA +1.

The sister channels split the rest of Channel 5’s imports between them. 5Star takes US reality and lifestyle, 5Action takes films and adventure series, and 5Select, the newest of them, handles documentary and factual.

Frequently asked questions

What’s on 5USA tonight?

Three NCIS episodes run back to back from 6pm to 9pm, then a new episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit takes the 9pm slot. Three more Special Victims Unit episodes close out the night from 10pm to 11:55pm.

What time do the main shows start on 5USA?

Primetime on 5USA typically runs from around 7pm through to midnight, with the headline procedural slot usually landing at 9pm. Daytime hours are mostly given over to earlier seasons of the same shows, run in double or triple bills.

Is 5USA free to watch?

Yes, entirely free to air on Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat. There are ad breaks throughout, as with any commercial channel, but no subscription fee anywhere.

Can I watch 5USA online for free?

Yes. It streams live at channel5.com and through the 5 app; you’ll need a free account. Selected episodes of its biggest shows also appear on demand afterwards, though not every episode makes the cut.

Verdict

Tonight is the channel’s default template, run to the letter: three NCIS episodes fill 6pm to 9pm, a new Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode takes the 9pm slot, and three more Special Victims Unit episodes see the night out from 10pm to 11:55pm. Nothing here demands you catch it live rather than mid-repeat, which is exactly what the channel is for.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 5 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide | Films on TV This Week